Jeff Beck Group
Rough and Ready

I hadn't listened to Jeff Beck for a while because, unfortunately, he reminded me of my absence at his Vigevano concert on 06/29/2011 (sigh!!!)

Today, I finally decided to make peace with myself, and I put on "Rough and Ready" from 1971, a creation of the second "Jeff Beck Group" (the one without Rod Stewart), which would also release the eponymous album "The Jeff Beck Group" in 1972. After "Truth" and "Beck-Ola" between '68 and '69, Jeff was semi-immobilized due to a serious car accident for about 18 months, just when he wanted to form a supergroup with Tim Bogert, Carmine Appice, Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, who each decided to go their own way. Upon his return to the scene, he formed this lineup with Bob Tench (vocals), Cozy Powell (drums), Clive Chaman (bass), and Max Middleton (piano). In some reviews, this work has been described as "prog-jazz." But why? Indeed, the naïve r'n'r fierceness of the previous Beck-Ola or the blues revival of the granitic Truth ends here; the adjective "prog" is, in my opinion, due to the more substantial rhythms and piano than in previous works. Max Middleton's piano is very present, and the exchange of ideas between the instruments is more jazz-oriented than rock. Jeff's sound remains, however, always captivating, perhaps a bit more thoughtful than usual, with pauses (which he loves to call thinking me...) and at the same time lyrical, melodic, and pastoral with echoes of "Beck's Bolero". In the first track, "Got The Feeling", Jeff's phrases are fierce, funky (with a bit of wah-wah), and there's a curious "Knopfler-esque" lick at 3'41''. The second track, "Situation", contains what I believe are Jeff's best contributions, with a bit of "mouth guitar" and the usual sliding triplet licks. The interventions at the end of "I've Been Used" are also aggressive, as if to demonstrate that rock is always just around the corner! The same thing is highlighted in "New Ways / Train Train" at 1'17'', where some Townshend-like chords appear, which is unusual for Beck, whose playing is known for the total absence of typical barre chords and/or full chords... Aside from "Max's Tune" credited to Middleton, the remaining tracks were written by Jeff, which is a rarity, given that he is known more as an interpreter-performer than a writer... In summary, what appeared to me for years as an experiment by Jeff, a mix of rhythm & blues and rock-funky, is perhaps truly the real dividing line between the Jeff Beck rock and the rock-fusion of Blow by Blow and Wired, of course not considering the subsequent fanta-boogie interlude of the BBA group!!!n.b. And what if, instead of singer Tench, it was just Jeff's guitar?